Part 84 (1/2)

The door opened again and the guardian reappeared, this time escorting an old woman, human, who tottered on two canes to support her ma.s.sive weight. Sweat darkened the cloth of her loose clothing round her armpits and beneath her cleavage and on the bulging islands of her hips. Her expression was one of anxiety and discomfort.

Unbidden, Third Sister rose and pulled a bench away from one wall, positioning it in the woman's path.

'Please do sit,' said the High Priestess, thinking, alas, of the two dozen blind crayfish she'd just eaten, each almost half the size of a lobster, served up drenched in melted b.u.t.ter. Pleasure until pain, and we then rail at our misfortune. Pleasure until pain, and we then rail at our misfortune.

With muttered thanks, the woman lowered herself on to the bench. 'Please to introduce myself,' she said in a wheeze. 'I am the Witch-'

'I know,' the High Priestess interrupted, 'and that t.i.tle will suffice here, as must my own. Yours has been a trying journey, and so I can only a.s.sume you come with word of a crisis.'

A quick nod. 'The cult of the Redeemer, High Priestess, has become . . . corrupted.'

'And what is the agency of that corruption?'

'Well, but that is complicated, you see. There was a High Priestess oh, she was a reluctant owner of that t.i.tle, and all the duties that came with it. Yet none could deny her natural authority-'

'”Natural authority”,' said the High Priestess. 'I like that phrase. Sorry, do go on.'

'Outlaws have usurped the pilgrim camp. There is some concentrated form of the drink called kelyk I do not know if you are familiar with it?'

'We are, yes.'

Another quick nod. 'Saemankelyk. The word comes from a dialect common south of G.o.d's Walk Mountains. ”Saeman” means ”Dying G.o.d” and ”kelyk” means-' 'Blood.'

A sigh. 'Yes.'

Second Sister cleared her throat, and then said, 'Surely you do not mean to suggest that the meaning is literal?'

The witch licked her lips an instinctive gesture rather than anything ironic and said, 'I have applied some . . . arts, er, to examining this saemankelyk. There are unnatural properties, that much is certain. In any case, the outlaws have made addicts of the pilgrims. Including Salind, the Redeemer's High Priestess.'

Third Sister spoke. 'If this foul drink is in any way blessed, then one might well see its poisonous influence as a corruption of the Redeemer's wors.h.i.+ppers. If one kneels before saemankelyk . . . well, one cannot kneel before two two masters, can one?' masters, can one?'

Not without physically splitting in half, no. 'Witch, what is it you wish of us?' 'Witch, what is it you wish of us?'

'This corruption, High Priestess. It could . . . spread.'

Silence round the table.

It was clear now to the High Priestess that the witch had given this meeting considerable thought, until arriving at the one suggestion she considered most likely to trigger alarm. As if we Tiste Andii are but taller, black-skinned versions of humans. As if we could so easily be . . . stolen away. As if we Tiste Andii are but taller, black-skinned versions of humans. As if we could so easily be . . . stolen away.

Emboldened, the witch resumed. 'High Priestess, Salind she needs help. We need help. There was a warrior, one among you, but he has disappeared. Now that Seerdomin is dead, I sought to find him. Spinnock Durav.'

The High Priestess rose. 'Come with me, Witch,' she said. 'Just you and me. Come, it's not far.'

The old woman levered herself upright, confusion in her small eyes.

To a side pa.s.sage, a narrow corridor of twenty paces, and then down a short flight of stairs, the air still smelling of fresh-chiselled basalt, into a large but low-vaulted octagonal chamber devoid of any furniture, the floor of which was inlaid with onyx tesserae, irregular in shape and size. A journey of but a few moments for most people; yet for the witch it was an ordeal, striking the High Priestess with the poignancy of the old woman's desperation that she should so subject herself to such a struggle. The trek from her home through the city to the keep must have been an epic undertaking.

These thoughts battered at the High Priestess's impatience, and so she weathered the delay saying nothing and without expression on her smooth, round face.

As soon as the witch tottered into the chamber, she gasped.

'Yes, you are clearly an adept,' observed the High Priestess. 'There are nodes of power in this temple. Kurald Galain, the cleansing darkness.' She could see that the witch was breathing hard and fast, and there was a look of wonder on that sweat-sheathed face. 'Do not be alarmed at what you feel inside,' she said. 'By entering here, you have drawn Kurald Galain into your body, in your breaths, through the very pores of your skin. The sorcery is now within you.'

'B-but . . . why? Why have you done this to me?'

'I could sense the labouring of your heart, Witch. Your trek to my temple would have been your last-'

'Oh, I knew that!' snapped the witch.

The sudden irritation shocked the High Priestess for a moment. She rea.s.sessed this woman tottering before her. 'I see. Then . . .'

'Then yes yes, I prayed my sacrifice would be worth it. Salind is so precious what has been done to her is despicable. Is . . . evil.' evil.'

'Then you have not come in the name of the Redeemer, have you?'

'No. I came for a friend.'

A friend. 'Witch, Spinnock Durav is no longer in Black Coral. It grieves me to hear of Seerdomin's death. And it grieves me more to learn of Salind's fate. Tell me, what else are you feeling?' 'Witch, Spinnock Durav is no longer in Black Coral. It grieves me to hear of Seerdomin's death. And it grieves me more to learn of Salind's fate. Tell me, what else are you feeling?'

The witch was hunched over, as if in visceral pain. 'Fine,' she hissed reluctantly. 'I can see that there is no risk of the poison spreading. I never thought there was.'

'I know that,' said the High Priestess, her voice soft.

'But I needed to bargain for your help.'

'That is ever the a.s.sumption among you humans. Do you know, when the delegates from the Free Cities came to treat with us, when the Rhivi and the man who pretended to be Prince K'azz D'Avore of the Crimson Guard came to us they all thought to bargain. To buy our swords, our power. To purchase purchase our alliance. Lord Anomander Rake but lifted one hand before any of them could even so much as say one beseeching word. And he said this: ”We are the Tiste Andii. Do not seek to bargain with us. If you wish our help, you will ask for it. We will say yes or we will say no. our alliance. Lord Anomander Rake but lifted one hand before any of them could even so much as say one beseeching word. And he said this: ”We are the Tiste Andii. Do not seek to bargain with us. If you wish our help, you will ask for it. We will say yes or we will say no.

There will be no negotiations.”' The witch was staring across at her.

The High Priestess sighed. 'It is not an easy thing for a proud man or woman, to simply ask.' ask.'

'No,' whispered the witch. 'It's not.'

Neither spoke then for a dozen heartbeats, and then the witch slowly straightened. 'What have you done to me?'

'I expect Kurald Galain has done its a.s.sessment. Your aches are gone, yes? Your breathing has eased. Various ailments will disappear in the next few days. You may find your appet.i.te . . . diminished. Kurald Galain prefers forces in balance.'

The witch's eyes were wide.

The High Priestess waited.

'I did not ask for such things.'

'No. But it did not please me to realize that your journey to my temple would prove fatal.'

'Oh. Then, thank you.'

The High Priestess frowned. 'Am I not yet understood?'

'You are,' replied the witch, with another flash of irritation, 'but I have my own rules, and I will voice my grat.i.tude, whether it pleases you or not.'